“Violent” Nintendo Power removed from middle school library

A middle school in Cleveland, Ohio has been threatened with litigation for …

A minor controversy erupted in Clevelend, Ohio recently, where a teachers union and school board are at odds with how one area principal handled the removal of the November issue of Nintendo Power from a middle school library. The issue in question features a character from Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on the cover prominently holding a handgun.

Upon its release, the principal deemed the "violent figure" as inappropriate for children in the sixth to eight grade (noting that the game carries a mature rating) and promptly removed the magazine without following protocol, which states that all staff must put in a formal request to the school board before a publication can be removed.

After the fact, the school board sided with the principal. Meanwhile the librarian, teachers union, and even the American Civil Liberties Union demanded the issue be reinstated.

While referring to the magazine as "literature," the ACLU argues, "The principal doesn't get to say, 'Whatever I say goes.' There's got to be some mechanism by which decisions are made and a process of review. Or maybe tomorrow it'll be Hamlet." According to a district spokesman, litigation has been threatened against the school.

In no way a stranger to controversy surrounding its games, developer Rockstar was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Ars on Tuesday.

29 Reader Comments

Ridiculous. I think an issue of Nintendo Power is a bit different than Hamlet or any other novel. And since when do school libraries have books/magazines about gaming? Shouldn't kids be going to the library to study, or do reports? Sounds like it shouldn't have been there in the first place.

i definitely see the point that the plantiffs are trying to make, but this is frankly a stupid fight.

yes, the principal didn't follow the correct procedure, but seeing as the school board agreed with him after the fact, pretty much puts this in the done deal category.

so what's going to happen if the magazine in question gets reinstated, whether by court order or voluntarily? the principal will just follow the proper procedure and have the magazine "properly" removed.

and seeing as the school board has already made its decision on the suitability of the "literature" in question, the review process should take all of 3 seconds, thereby once again removing the magazine from the school.

As a teacher I would not one of my students having this picture in my class. I'm suprised they let mag's about games in their library. I'm not saying kids should not read this, they just don't need to be seeing this at school.

First off, Nintendo Power in a school library is just fine. Kids don't need to study all 7 hours they're in school, just like people aren't expected to work all 8 hours they're at work. Periodic breaks are a good thing and any manager worth anything knows this. 10 minutes reading a NP (or ars) during lunch or at 3 in the afternoon won't hurt anyone and doesn't ruin productivity.

Secondly, yes, having a gun on the cover of a magazine is too much for 6th graders. I understand that. But why the hell did the ACLU get involved? The principal should have followed procedure in the first place, but this seems like the epitome of mountain out of a mole hill.

For the people scratching their head about why Nintendo Power is in a School Library, there's one simple reason for it.

To get kids who wouldn't normally go to the library in their spare time interested in reading SOMETHING, ANYTHING.

For a tongue-in-cheek example, consider Nintendo Power as a Gateway drug like Marijuana. Sure, pot is fun, but you really want to get a kid hooked on something mind-expanding. Let them read Nintendo Power in the Library, but you want to get them hooked on the hard stuff, like the books on programming and game development - books they can check out and hang on to for a while. They can't take magazines home.

Libraries will do a lot of things to get a kid reading. When I was in 6th grade, I brought a few months worth of Nintendo Power (this was the 16-bit era), with me every day to school. My school library back then had issues of Mad Magazine to read during lunch. And Mad had a lot of humor that would go over your average 6th grader's head...

Secondly, yes, having a gun on the cover of a magazine is too much for 6th graders. I understand that. But why the hell did the ACLU get involved? The principal should have followed procedure in the first place, but this seems like the epitome of mountain out of a mole hill.

You just answered your own question. Making mountains out of mole hills is what the ACLU does best.

quote:

For the people scratching their head about why Nintendo Power is in a School Library, there's one simple reason for it.

To get kids who wouldn't normally go to the library in their spare time interested in reading SOMETHING, ANYTHING.

Exactly the same reason one might, say, bring a Rock Band game into a Nebraska public library.

The term "library" doesn't really apply anymore if the principal gets to pick and choose which publications it carries based on the goddamn cover art. They should instead just call it the "Room Full of Material that Brian Sharosky Thinks is Okay".

quote:

Originally posted by UnderwearYoga:Secondly, yes, having a gun on the cover of a magazine is too much for 6th graders.

[citation needed]i mean, how do you make that sweeping generalization for kids you'll never meet?

Because, obviously, even seeing a gun will instantly turn Little Johnny into a total psychopath. Why can't kids play wholesome games like we used to play? Like Cops & Robbers, or Cowboys & Indians... wait.

The principal is an idiot. If he'd ever actually read any books in school when he was growing up he'd know there are plenty of other books in a middle school library with much more 'mature' content, violent or otherwise, than a picture on the cover of a Nintendo Power.

But, in all seriousness, back in 7th or 8th grade, I freaked out my art teacher when I made a stained glass thing where one guy shot a hole through another guy's chest. It wasn't even that vivid. Anyway, I thank God that the educational system I grew up with wasn't as anal about things like that as they are now.

Wouldn't you know it, I don't even own a gun. And, thanks to this post, I never will. :-P

I remember using building blocks (large onesas not to be swallowed) to make toy guns and such when i was in the 2nd grade in a catholic school and thats not even that long ago. Hell the History text books from 6th-8th grade were worse then that picture.

Hell, I read "Call of the Wild" in elementary--I'm pretty sure that was more gruesome than GTA. Also, "My Brother Sam."That said, yeah the ACLU getting into this is silly as well. What was it Buffalo Springfield said?

Originally posted by bwoodring:Why is there Nintendo Power in a school library?

This was the first question that popped in my mind, too. Then again, I can't for the life of me understand how kids get away with texting on their cell phones all day at school either. Put that shit away, kids! WTF are teachers thinking these days? When I was in school, that shit wouldn't play. At all. The toys would be confiscated. Go directly to the Principal's Office. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.

I think arguing to get the magazine put back in is pointless now that the school board agreed with him - as other posters have noted (including the one just above mine).

But what gets me is that a rule which the principal is supposed to enforce was violated by the very same man. Breaking a rule just because you think it isn't right is not a good defence. I am not going to argue about why it was done. But the slippery slope here is undeniable. If we allow for this indiscretion, then what stops another one from happening? The principal should have followed protocol. He did not. For this he should be punished.

"Honey, I don't understand why you're so mad I took that $20 from your purse without asking. I know you would have allowed me to in the end - so why be angry at all?"

The groups arguing for it to be reinstated are fighting for the principle of the matter. They appear to care less that the removal was the appropriate action given the audience. They care more about HOW it was removed than WHY it was removed.

As for having a gaming magazine in the library, why not allow the kids to read things of interest in their free time? Keep the kids reading, right?

My wife teaches in a public high school. It is against their rules for kids to have their cell phones with them at all, and especially to be using them at school. But you try to take it away from them, and fairly often their parents will come in and screech about being able to contact their kids in an emergency, never mind that the office has a telephone and can get their kids out of class if it's that important. I wonder how I survived high school twelve years ago without that umbilical cord, honestly.

Even if the parents don't bitch, the kids can be defiant and do it anyway, because that's how kids are at that age.

In the 90's my high school had copies of all sorts of magazines. Hell the girls were reading Cosmopolitan which frequently had subjects of adult content in them. I'm not sure why these magazines were there but they were.

My high school had some magazines as well but they were usually limited to educational types like Time or Smithsonian. I know if they had anything worth reading I would have spent a lot more of my time there. Especially if it were game related.

My wife teaches in a public high school. It is against their rules for kids to have their cell phones with them at all, and especially to be using them at school. But you try to take it away from them, and fairly often their parents will come in and screech about being able to contact their kids in an emergency, never mind that the office has a telephone and can get their kids out of class if it's that important. I wonder how I survived high school twelve years ago without that umbilical cord, honestly.

Even if the parents don't bitch, the kids can be defiant and do it anyway, because that's how kids are at that age.

The problem is, most schools have similar "rules," but they simply don't enforce them at many places. My wife is an instructor for a local ethnic folk dance troupe and most of the members in her group are high-school aged, attending various schools here in the Milwaukee area. Several of them regularly send her text messages during school hours, sometimes more frequently than they could possibly have breaks between classes.

Honestly, I think the parents should be reviewing their kids' phone bills to see all these messages and when they're being sent and do something about it. The educators are the second line of defense here. They run the classroom and need to grow a pair and take charge.

At any rate, I'm getting too far off topic here. I still feel that there's very little justification in having Nintendo Power in a middle-school or even a high-school library. There's several other video game industry trade magazines that would be much better suited for library consumption.